7
10 Ways To Ensure A Long Life From Your Engine:
❏ 1. Keep your engine clean. Dirt will act as insulation on an
engine. It will not be able to shed heat as easily. Use a good
air filter to keep dirt out of your engine and clean it often.
❏ 2. Do not over-lean your engine.
❏ 3. Do not run your engine with little or no load. Don't
throttle up the engine to full throttle when the wheels are not
in contact with the ground.
❏ 4. Do not overheat the engine. This goes along with
keeping it clean and not over-leaning the engine.
❏ 5. Do not use a fuel with a low oil content. Make sure you
use a fuel from a reputable manufacturer, such as DuraTrax
Red Alert.
❏ 6. Avoid using old fuels in the engine. Always run all of
the fuel out of the engine. After running for the day, use an
after-run oil and work it into the engine by turning the
flywheel or pulling the engine recoil slowly.
❏ 7. Do not use a fuel with a nitromethane (often called
nitro) content over 20%.
❏ 8. Do not scratch the piston or cylinder sleeve. Avoid
jamming something into the exhaust port when removing or
reinstalling the clutch or flywheel. Use a special tool called a
crankshaft locking tool, which is installed in the glow plug hole.
❏ 9. Do not use silicone sealer on the engine joints.
Silicone sealer contains acetic acid, which is corrosive if it
gets inside your engine.
❏ 10. Do not allow any water to get inside the engine. This
sounds easy, but temperature changes can cause
condensation inside the engine.This is a good reason to use
an after-run oil. Store your engine inside the house, not in a
garage or shed where there will be temperature extremes.
The glow plug is an item that will wear out and need
replacement from time to time. It is a good idea to remove
the glow plug before your first run, connect the plug to the
glow starter and see how well it glows. You should see a
bright orange glow from the filament. If a coil or two will not
glow or the plug will not glow at all, replace the plug. If the
engine quits when you remove the glow starter, the plug
might need to be changed, although this may be because
you are running too rich and need to screw in your high-
speed needle some. Look at the glow plug when you are
running the engine. If you see some bubbles coming from
around the plug, replace the glow plug (copper) gasket, or
both the plug and gasket. The only real way to test a glow
plug is to replace it. Make sure you have a spare plug or two
on hand every time that you run the Overdrive ST (we
recommend DuraTrax Silver Sport plugs, DTXG3001).
Fuel can go bad. The main ingredient in model fuel is
methanol, which is basically alcohol. Alcohol will absorb water
out of the air, so keep your fuel jug capped at all times. Store
your fuel out of the sunlight and in a cool place. Bad fuel is
one of the most difficult problems to diagnose in engines. If
you have tried everything you can think of to remedy an
engine that is not running correctly, try using some fresh fuel.
The fuel line is susceptible to pinhole leaks.You cannot see
the hole in the fuel line, but if you see air bubbles in the line
going to the carburetor, replace the fuel line. Another
symptom of a leak in the fuel line is a surging engine. A
properly tuned engine will surge when the air bubbles hit the
carb. It is basically leaning out the mixture.
To keep dirt out of the engine, we recommend that you use
an inline fuel filter (DTXG2551 Clean Flow fuel filter
recommended) on the fuel line running from the fuel tank to
the carburetor. Dirt can get caught in the needle seat and
cause an inconsistent running engine. If you suspect that
some dirt has lodged itself in the carb, remove the needles
and clean the carb with denatured alcohol or fuel. It can help
to use compressed air to blow out the fuel passages as well.
Dirt can get into your carburetor and engine through the air
filter. Ensure that your air cleaner has a good seal to the top
of the carb. Periodically wash the air cleaner foam element
and re-oil the filter. Any air cleaner that has a torn element
or a bad seal should be replaced immediately.
One of the worst things you can do to your engine is
overheat it. The oils that lubricate the engine are carried in
the fuel. If your engine is set too lean, there will not be
enough oil in the engine to lubricate the internal parts. This
will cause premature wear in the engine and cause damage.
We have talked about overheating in other parts of this
manual, but we want to stress the proper techniques to
check for overheating. The easiest way of checking the
temperature of the cylinder head is using one of the
available temperature gauges. This will give you a direct
reading of the cylinder head temperature. Do not let the
head temperature exceed 240° Fahrenheit (116° Celsius).
Another way of checking the head temperature is to put a
drop of water on the cylinder head. If it boils away
immediately, the high-speed needle is set too lean. If the
OVERHEATING
FUEL
GLOW PLUG
ENSURING ENGINE LIFE
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